300 
tKE  'TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[Nov.  I,  1895. 
our  jnvesf'gnticns  1 ave  gone  we  are  of  opinion  that 
assuring  the  existence  of  the  state  of  things  repre- 
sented the  cause  and  possibly  a remedy  may  be 
found  in  the  foregoing  remarks. 
7.  "We  recommend  the  distribution  of  the  leaflet 
on  Cocoa  published  in  July  by  the  Director  of 
Public  Gardens,  a large  munber  of  which  have  b?en 
placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  Secretai'y. 
x\.  leaflet  on  K.ola  is  also  being  prepared  which 
can  be  dealt  with  in  the  same  manner. 
Ji.  The  Curator  of  the  Museum  having  taken  up 
the  matter  of  Pimento,  the  committee  will  not  deal 
with  it. 
Mr.  Burke  moved  the  adoption  of  the  report  and 
said  that  it  showed  that  the  committee  were  doing 
their  work  well.  They  could  not  do  too  much  for 
the  cultivation  of  coflee,  as  recently  he  saw  that  the 
exportations  of  the  article  had  greatly  decreased, 
and  the  Society  should  press  upon  the  peasants 
the  necessity  for  new  and  improved  methods 
The  Chairman  said  he  was  planting  about  (iO  acres 
of  Liberian  coffee  in  St.  Catherine,  and  ho  would  be 
glad  to  give  the  Secretary  samples  in  order  to 
supply  the  peasantry  with  them. 
A.  I'esolution  was  passed  approving  of  and  giving 
effect  to  the  recommendations  of  the  Committee. 
Mr,  Burke  called  attention  to  the  enormous  waste 
of  everything  that  could  be  used  for  manure  in  the 
Island.  If  some  material  W'ore  obtained  and  thrown 
In  and  the  compost  allowed  to  ro‘,  a first  rate 
manure  would  be  got.  The  peasantry  should  be 
told  that  what  they  would  thus  put  into  manure 
would  be  returned  to  them  from  the  land, — Jamaica 
^lyntultmal  Society. 
W.ATERING. 
-There  is  probably  no  one  operation  in  the  whole 
routine  of  gardening  that  is  more  thoughtlessly 
carried  on  than  that  of  watering.  The  individual 
requirements  of  particular  plants  are  little  thought 
of,  and  “watering”  is  administered  indiscriminately 
to  each  and  all  alike.  Where  there  is  a mixed 
oollection  to  bn  dealt  with,  the  ditficuhies  in  ad 
justing  the  supply  to  the  needs  of  the  iiidividual 
are,  no  doubt,  great,  but  in  market  establish'i  ents, 
where  large  quantities  of  q-  e plant  are  grown,  and 
where  a house  or  houses  are  set  apart  for  the  ex- 
clusive cultivation  of  some  par  icular  subjects,  the 
difliculties  ar-'  materially  lessened,  though  not  over- 
come. In  any  case  it  is  most  important  to  gain 
a knowledge  of  the  principles  which  govern  the 
relations  between  the  growing  plant,  the  amount  of 
water  it  receives,  and  the  period  at  which  it  receives 
the  supply. 
1'iiat  a plant  needs  water,  suffers  if  it  gets  too 
little  or  too  much,  that  it  requires  more  at  one 
time  than  at  another,  and  that  different  plants 
vary  in  their  requirements  according  to  their 
confoimation  and  structure,  and  the  circumstances 
under  which  they  are  growing— ail  this,  of  course, 
is  well  known,  though  in  practice  it  is  often  not 
remembered  or  acted  on. 
Again,  the  influence  of  excess  or  deficiency  of 
water  may  affect  not  only  the  individual  plant,  hut 
may  determine  variations  in  the  productiveness  of 
the  plant,  and  induce  variations  in  the  number, 
size  and  vigour  of  the  seed  and  its  contained  embryo. 
In  reference  to  these  matters,  the  Revue  Scientifique 
for  July  6 publishes  a report  of  a thesis  prepared 
^ M.  Edmond  Gain.  ai  d presented  to  tf  e Paris 
Faculty  of  Sciei-ce.  The  general  character  of  this 
thesis  'may  be  gleaned  from  what  has  already  been 
said,  but  it  may  be  of  interest  to  add  a biief 
summary  of  the  conclusions  at  which  M.  Gain,  a 
well-known  author  on  agricultural  chemistry,  has 
arrived,  as  they  are  of  great  practical  importance. 
There  is,  says  Gain,  an  alternation  in  the 
requirements  of  plants  for  water.  Continuor.s  de- 
piivati.  n or  continuous  supply  of  water  are  alike 
contraiy  o tlie  physiological  requirements  of  p'ants. 
In  ail  M.  Gain’s  ’ exp.  rliiu  nls  lb  se  plants  which 
were  supplied  with  water  at  the  two  c itical  pe.  iods — 
the  commencement  of  the  unfolding  of  tlie  leaves, 
the  beginning  of  tie  flowering  period— and  at 
no  01' er  time,  did  as  well  ai  those  provided  with 
a continuous  supply  of  water  during  the  whole  period 
of  vegetation.  Farther,  the  experiments  of  M.  Gain 
showed  that  this  influence  of  moisture  is  not  felt 
equally  bv  all  the  organs:  it  has  a greater  effect 
on  bite  aiuial  than  on  the  subterranean  organs. 
The  result  of  this  differing  influence  is  shown  in  the 
fact  that  plants  grown  in  dry  soil  have  thicker 
roots  than  plants  in  damp  soil,  though  the  stems 
may  be  equal  in  w-c'ght.  This  is  in  accordance  with 
the  well-known  fact  that  plants  of  very  dry  countries 
have  frequently  roots  which  are  very  large  in  com- 
parison with  the  weight  and  height  of  their  ai*riaJ 
parts. 
With  regard  to  the  inti  etic-3  exircised  by  the 
greater  or  lesser  nuaitity  of  w.ater  on  the  propa- 
gation of  the  species,  the  researches  of  M.  Gain 
have  established  the  t«o  f >11  win'  facts,  relating, 
the  former  to  seeds,  the  latter  to  the  tubers:  — 
1st.  The  humidity  of  the  soil  favours  and  greatly 
augments  the  number  of  fruit  and  seeds,  but  drought 
induces  the  formation  of  larger  and  heavier  seeds. 
Oil  damp  soil  a plant  yields  smaller  seeds,  which 
coiisequently,  tend  to  bring  about  tho  de_.4eneratiou 
of  the  species. 
3ud.  The  number  of  the  tubers  is  but  little  in- 
rinenoed  by  the  variation  iu  the  retentive  powers 
of  the  soli  for  wat'-r,  but  on  damp  soil  the  plant 
yields  larger  tuber-.  There  is  then  an  increase  in 
weight;  the  po'ariiy  of  these  tubers  isj  however, 
n t nmch  marked,  and  they  are  consequetnly  less 
perfect  than  those  which  have  been  submitted,  in  the 
heart,  to  relatiie  dryness. 
Ii  may  be  repeated  that  moisture  perceptibly 
increases  the  immediate  yield,  but  tends  to  the 
formation  of  impeifect  reproductive  organs,  which 
produce  less  vigorous  plants.  This  is  to  the  ad- 
vantage of  the  iiidividua',  but  to  tlie  detriment  of 
the  conservation  of  the  species.  Tho  prac  ical  in- 
ferences are  obvious. — Otn-denere’  Chronicle, 
IMPROVED  PLANTIxXG. 
Thb  Importance  of  Large  Pits,— To  begin  with 
the  very  importaut  work  of  pitting. — What  is  the 
object  of  providing  pics  for  young  plants  ? Why 
not  simply  dibble  them  in  anyhow  ? Simply  because 
the  teuder  young  rootlets  must  have  a free  loose 
soil  to  enter  on  all  sides,  or  the  growth  of  the 
plant  will  be  checked  and  its  vitality  impaired. 
This  being  so,  is  the  size  of  the  pits  usnally  dm' 
sufficient  fir  this  , purpose  or  not?  Who  has  not 
remarked  the  check  young  plants  receive  at  that 
period  of  their  growth  when  the  rootlets  have  reached 
the  lia  d sides  of  the  pita  and  are  too  weak  to 
outer  the  hard  soil  beyond.  By  the  nature  of 
things  this  check  occurs  at  a very  critical  moment 
of  their  existence  and  has  a lot  to  say  to  the 
prevalence  of  “ failtiies.’’  The  pits  usually  dug.  on 
the  Niigiris  at  any  rate,  and  I ticHeve  in  the  other 
districts  also,  are  so-called  IS”  cube  circular  lioles. 
As  a matter  of  fa>  t the  real  size  seldom  exceeds 
15",  which  is  far  short  of  the  actual  requirometils 
of  the  plants. 
Pits  3x2x2  Just  as  cheap  as  2' cube. — At  first 
I made  my  pits  2'  cube  : now,  as  I find  it  entails 
no  extra  cost,  I make  them  3x2x2  deep.  The  seem- 
ing puzzle  about  the  cost  lies  in  the  fact  that  in 
the  latter  pits  the  cooly  is  able  to  use  a basket  to 
remove  the  earth,  while  iu  the  former  he  cannot. 
Perhaps  the  most  uniformly  .successful  of  the  older 
Nilgivi  estates  is  Hillgrove,  which  was  planted  up 
many  years  ago  by  Mr.  Riley  iu  large  2ft  and 
sometimes  3ft.  pits,  paiticular  care  being  taken  to 
remove  all  stones  from  tlie  pits.  Hi.lgrove  is,  I 
believe,  the  only  estate  in  the  district  which  has 
been  planted  up  in  this  mam  er. 
Stir  up  Your  Soiu. — As  a class  we  planters  seem 
to  be  now  more  appreciative  of  the  value  of  what 
fanners  at  home  call  “ tilth,’’  and  of  tl.e  ai'ratiou 
of  the  soil.  As  it  is  difficult,  though  not  impossible, 
to  do  v^y  much  without  serious  injury  to  the 
large  roots  on  an  old  jlantalion,  lot  us  do  all  in 
our  power  at  tho  start.  What  is  tho  heat  model 
to  copy  from  t I tvofi  t take  my  reader*  farther 
